Our last week in Mission was pretty low key. We went bike riding at Bentsen Rio Grande Valley State Park a few times. At one point, four Green Jays flew across the road just in front of us. Very cool!
We also visited with a friend and took a tour of the Bentsen Palm Village Development down the road. It’s a really nice place, but we’re not anywhere near ready to settle down in one spot.
The Green Parakeets would sometimes come to our RV park, but our last week they were back in full force. They usually flew over in the morning and again in the afternoon. They seem to love the many Hackberry trees in the park. In this first picture you can see them eating the berries.
One of the trees was over our truck. About one hundred birds descended on that tree. As they devoured the berries, it sounded like it was raining as the shells hit the ground and our truck. The berries have a sticky residue, so a truck wash was in order later in the day.
Our last afternoon we decided to take a swim and enjoy the hot tub one more time. The parakeets were flying overhead and landed in a tree next to the pool. What a great send off.
We enjoyed our month in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Overall, the weather was okay. We had some cold, damp days at the beginning of the month and some hot, humid days later on. Many days had at least some cloud cover. We’re glad we visited, but probably won’t come back.
Sunday we left and headed to our next month long adventure in Port Aransas, Texas. In Corpus Christi, we saw a huge oil refinery called Flint Hill Refinery. I did a little research and found out that the company has refineries in Alaska, Minnesota and Texas. Combined, they can process 800,000 barrels of crude oil per day. Wow!
Port Aransas is on Mustang Island. We crossed over a long causeway as we approached from the South. There is a free ferry service to get to the island from the North. It runs 24/7 and can handle rigs up to 55’ long. We’ll be checking it out while we’re here.
This area has an island tropical feel to it. There are lots of sand dunes and little shops that remind me of Key West, Florida. I’m excited to begin exploring.
We’re staying at Marina Beach RV Resort. Our site is a 50 amp FHU with a level concrete pad. Sites in the park are pretty tight, but overall it looks like a decent, well maintained place. There is a laundry room and a small clubhouse plus a good sized pool and small backyard style hot tub. The pool is open, but the water is cold.
I was excited to see there is a Dairy Queen within walking distance! Maybe that’s not such a good thing as I still am trying to lose a few pounds before Korey’s wedding :)
Speaking of the wedding, the date is August 10, 2013. They have booked the church, hall, caterer, and photographer so they can now focus on some of the other details.
Korey has moved into his apartment in Omaha and started a new job. He is so happy to finally be living in the same city as Cathryn.
Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!
